Timeline Description: For many years people wished that they could fly. While there were others who tried, the Wright brothers were the guy who made it happen. This timeline tells about their journey.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1867 | Wilbur Wright Wilbur was born in Indiana. |
| 1871 | Orville Wright Orville was born in Ohio, after the family had moved there two years before. |
| 1878 | The first inspiration Wilbur and Orville's father brought them home a toy helicopter. The boys became fascinated with flying things. |
| 1881 | Let's go fly a kite Orville began building kites as a hobby to feed his flying fascination. |
| 1892 | A bicycle shop The brothers opened a bicycle shop. This let them get their hands dirty with building things, as well as gave them the funds they need for their later flight experiments. |
| 1893 | World's Columbian Exposition The brothers attended the expo in Chicago. There was an aeronautical exhibit, and Wilbur and Orville were drawn to it. |
| 1896 | Their own brand The brothers began manufacturing their own brand of bicycles in their bicycle shop. This gave them more hands-on experience in building. |
| October 1896 | Otto Lilienthal dies Otto was an aeronautical engineer, and his death while trying to fly a glider reminded the Wright brothers that they wanted to fly too. |
| 1897 | They reason between them After Otto's death, the brothers began studying his methods as well as the methods of birds' flights. They decided they could create a machine for many to fly. |
| 1899 | The first experiments The Wright brothers built a special kite to test the "wing-warping" method of flight. |
| 1900 | Kitty Hawk Orville and Wilbur moved to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina so that they could better work on their flying experiments. |
| 1901 | The experiments continue The Wrights had many big victories in 1901. They had their first articles published in aeronautical journals, they made several more flying experiments, and they gave speeches about their findings. |
| 1902 | A powered engine The Wright brothers began working on putting an engine in their gliding machines. |
| 1903 | The first powered flights Orville and Wilbur each made many short flights in their new invention. They applied for a patent. |
| 1906 | Patent granted The Wrights' patent was granted, and the flying machine was called an aeroplane. |
| 1908 | Their first sale The Wrights won a bid to build the U.S. military a flying machine. They also took their invention to Europe for the first time. |
| 1909 | Congressional Medal The brothers are awarded the Congressional Medal for their contribution to the world of their flying machine. They started a flying revolution and proved that all things are possible. |